By DPA
Beirut : A bomb struck a car belonging to the US embassy north of Beirut, killing at least three people and injuring 20, US, Lebanese and Red Cross officials said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed “outrage” over Tuesday’s attack during a visit to Saudi Arabia, while the incident sparked broad condemnation by officials in the western-backed cabinet of premier Foaud Seniora.
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after an emergency meeting of the cabinet that “the blast is aimed at undermining Lebanon’s stability”.
The US embassy in Lebanon issued a statement late Tuesday confirming that one of its vehicles was “involved in an explosion in the Karantina district of Beirut” near Doura.
“Two embassy security employees, both Lebanese, were in the vehicle at the time of the explosion. One suffered from minor injuries,” it said.
All US staff assigned to the embassy in Beirut were safe and accounted for, but a US citizen who happened to be in the area was slightly hurt, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. Lebanese authorities identified him as a local teacher, Matthew Clayson.
“I want to state the outrage of the United States against the terrorist attack that took place in Lebanon today,” Rice said during a press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal in Riyadh.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also said he deplored the “cowardly crime”, and in a statement from his spokesman called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
Lebanese internal security forces said the three Lebanese civilians killed were bystanders who happened to be in Beirut’s Dora area.
The embassy condemned the blast and extended its condolences to the families of the victims.
“Crimes like the Doura attack will not weaken the international partnership working to support and strengthen Lebanon’s independence and democracy,” it said.
A Western diplomatic source in Beirut told DPA that a senior US official, who was coming to attend a scheduled reception to bid farewell to outgoing US ambassador in Beirut, Jeffery Feltman, was in the car at the time of the blast, but escaped with minor injuries.
The US embassy car was one of two reported to have been directly hit in the blast. Another car travelling behind it was also damaged.
Police at the scene said “two bodies” had been found near the US embassy car, but “not inside it”.
Lebanese security sources said the US embassy vehicle was returning from Beirut international airport after dropping off a US official.
“The car was obviously followed from the airport until the area where the blast was detonated,” the security source said.
Several cars were burned at the scene and several nearby houses damaged.
Several US embassy security men were at the scene as night fell along with Lebanese investigators. According to a Lebanese security source, the bomb was planted in a parked area and it was detonated by a remote control at a distance.
US embassy sources said the reception for Feltman was cancelled after the blast out of respect for the victims.
Lebanon has been rocked by a string of bombings, most of which have targeted prominent anti-Syrian politicians.
Tuesday’s blast came amid a deep political crisis in Lebanon with rival parties deadlocked over the replacement of former pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud who stood down in late November.
The last attack on the US embassy was on Oct 23, 1983, when two truck bombs struck separate buildings in Beirut housing US and French members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon, killing hundreds of servicemen, the majority being US Marines.
The blasts led to the withdrawal of the international peacekeeping force, which had had been stationed since the Israeli 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the bombing. The organization is thought to have been a nom de guerre for the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah, with help from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Lebanon is set to hold a new parliamentary session Jan 21 to choose a president after numerous delays despite intense international and Arab efforts to find a solution.
Earlier this month, US President George W. Bush laid the blame for the continuing feud on Syria.
The last attack in Lebanon was on December 12 when an explosion killed General Francois El Hajj, who was tipped to replace army chief General Michel Suleiman if he was elected president.